The directors of a match day parking company which is now under investigation have applied for it to be dissolved.
Last week it was confirmed an investigation had been launched into the conduct of individuals following the publication of a Liverpool Council internal audit report about the Beautiful Ideas company (BICo). It has now been revealed that probe has been extended to assess five members of the local authority.
City solicitor Dan Fenwick told a meeting of the standards and ethics committee on Wednesday night that the probe will focus on whether the five members “breached the code of conduct or the Nolan principles”. The ECHO can now reveal there has been an application by BICo's directors to dissolve the company. The application was signed by company directors Paul Stuart Dickson, David Michael Litherland and Gemma Louise McGowan.
READ MORE: Businessman who gave land to match day parking company tells of 'wall of silence'
A notice appeared on November 8 confirming the company would be struck off within two months 'unless cause is shown to the contrary.' The notice reads: "The Registrar of Companies gives notice that, unless cause is shown to the contrary, the company will be struck off the register and dissolved not less than two months from the date shown above."
The latest company accounts show BICo has liabilities of £302,541. In 2019 the company had a total income of £176,734 and spent £232,485. The company spent £57,255 on legal and professional fees and £28,694 on a Youth Music Project. The company wrote off a total of £90,000 in 2019.
Last week it emerged Mayor Joanne Anderson had lodged four issues regarding BICo and “standards of conduct”. All of the complaints listed make reference to alleged corruption and fraud, with three of them also citing poor performance.
The register of complaints, which is to be discussed publicly this week by the council’s standards and ethics committee, said all four complaints were being assessed and remained open.
Following the publication of the reports the council issued a statement which read: "The Beautiful Ideas CIC is a separate entity to Liverpool City Council and we have never had any legal powers to intervene in its operation.
“Our Internal Audit Team worked alongside the organisation to look solely at the controls and compliance relating to the income and use of funds from car parks on land leased from Liverpool City Council.
"We found there were acceptable controls and compliance procedures in place, but a number of recommendations were made. In our final report produced in 2019 we found that the only outstanding issue was related to record keeping relating to the collection of match day income, but as the car parks are no longer operating it is no longer required.
“The findings and recommendations of these Internal Audit reports are indicative of general issues regarding how areas of the council were operating at the time, as highlighted by the Best Value Inspection in March 2021. Since this time the council has implemented an organisation-wide Strategic Improvement Plan and is taking significant steps to deliver the necessary improvements to strengthen governance and control arrangements.
“The matters raised in the reports are those that came to Internal Audit’s attention during the course of their work. While every care has been taken to make sure the information is as accurate as possible, Internal Audit can only base their findings on the information and documentation provided to them, and the sample evidence tested, at that time.
"In line with standard audit practice, Internal Audit undertakes sample testing and aims to provide reasonable assurance about risk management, governance and control processes. Its findings are not intended as a comprehensive statement of all the weaknesses that existed, or of all the improvements that may be needed. These reports were produced solely for the internal use and benefit of Liverpool City Council.”
The ECHO approached BICo for comment on this story.
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